That made the color a perfect fit for the Communist movement. Its red army and a sea of red flags and banners came to characterize both cities and countryside following the success of the 1949 revolution.

However, in the more than three decades since the death of revolutionary leader Mao Zedong and the jettisoning of orthodox Marxism, red has taken on different meanings and contexts, some ancient, some very modern, finding its way into home furnishings, luxury items, clothing, and leisure goods, as well as the restored vestiges of Beijing's imperial heritage.